在线英语听力室_免费在线英语听力学习网站

印度食品保障计划遭受质疑

India's government is moving forward with a landmark¹ measure that will provide highly subsidized food grains to more than two-thirds of the country's 1.2 billion population.

印度政府正在推行里程碑式的食品措施，这项措施将为印度12亿人口中的三分之二的人口提供政府高补贴的粮食。

With food inflation hitting 8.25 percent in May, New Delhi resident Geeta Kashyap bargains even harder at the market to keep costs down. As food prices rise, she is left to wonder how the poorest in India can survive.

今年五月，印度食品上涨速度达到8.5%。新德里居民吉塔?迦叶波在市场里奋力还价，以减少开销。随着食品价格增长，她不禁开始思考印度最贫穷的人民要怎样生活下去。

“Everything is so expensive now, diesel² is expensive, gasoline is expensive, food is getting expensive - tomatoes that used to be 20 rupees a kilo are now 70 rupees a kilo - how can someone eat?” asked Kashyap.

 “现在所有商品都非常昂贵，柴油很贵，汽油很贵，事物也变贵了--过去西红柿只需20卢比一公斤，现在需要70卢比一公斤--我们怎么吃得起?”

It’s a question the Indian government wants to answer with the food security program - aimed at guaranteeing a majority of India’s population five kilograms of rice, wheat and coarse cereal a month at extremely cheap rates of one to three rupees or a few pennies per kilogram.

“这也是印度政府推行的食品保障项目想要回答的问题。这个项目的目标是保障大多数印度人口以1到3卢比每公斤甚至更低的价格每月购买5公斤大米、小麦和粗粮。

High rate of malnutrition³

The measure is crucial in a country with a quarter of the world’s hungry poor and where one out of three children is said to suffer from malnutrition - a rate higher than sub-Saharan Africa.

这项举措对于国家来说至关重要。印度的饥饿和贫困人口占全世界的四分之一。同时，三分之一的印度儿童营养不良--这一数据高于撒哈拉以南非洲。

The food security ordinance⁴ also will provide free meals to poor children and pregnant women.

这项食品保障条例还将为贫穷家庭的儿童和孕妇提供免费饮食。

While the measure looks to expand food subsidies⁵ to 50 percent of India’s urban population and to 75 percent of the country’s rural population, many say that unless the government fixes the flawed public distribution system, its unclear just how many people can benefit.

阿鲁?潘德说：尽管这项措施计划将食品保障推广到50%的印度城镇人口和75%的乡村人口，但许多人都认为除非政府能完善分配体系，不然有多少人能受益于这个项目还是未知数。

Bharat Ramaswami with the Indian Statistical⁶ Institute was one of 45 economists⁷ from around the world who signed an open letter to ruling Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi in 2011, urging the central government to consider alternative modes of subsidy⁸ delivery, such as direct money transfers, instead of relying on a public distribution system that is beset⁹ with problems.

2011年，印度数据学会的巴拉特?拉马斯瓦米与其它44位来自世界各地的经济学家一起，在给执政的国会领导人索尼亚?甘地的公开信上签名。这封信呼吁中央政府考虑其它补助方式，比如用直接转帐方式替代问题重重的公共补贴系统。

“There are huge amounts of money to be made illegally by diverting this grain to the market, and that’s been a big source of both leakage¹⁰ and corruption¹¹, and just outright¹² fraud,” said Ramaswami.

印度数据学会的巴拉特?拉马斯瓦米说：在把谷物分流到市场的过程中，发生非法获取巨额金钱的现象。这是腐败的源头，也是彻头彻尾的欺诈。

Concerns about public distribution

Ramaswami said that anywhere from 40 to 50 percent of the value of the subsidy is lost to leakage.

拉马斯瓦米说大约有40%到50%的政府补贴在损漏中流失。

He is not alone. Many who frequent this market in the Indian capital, like Sushil Kumar, are skeptical¹³ highly subsidized grains will make it to those who actually need it.

拉马斯瓦米并不是唯一持有这种意见的人。许多像苏希尔?库马尔一样经常光顾这个市场的新德里居民，也怀疑真正需要这些谷物的人们是否能得到补助。

“What store owner is going to give rice for 3 rupees a kilo? How will a person have proof that he is poor and entitled to these subsidies. He needs a card to show to a shop owner,” said Kumar.

新德里居民苏希尔?库马说： 什么样的店主才会把大米买到3卢比一公斤?一个人要怎么证明他自己是贫民并能够享受这些补贴?他需要向店主出示证明。

Others, like Trishna Garg, say the Cabinet approved the bill and the president signed it into ordinance at a time when the Congress party is eager to get support ahead of next year’s elections.

另外一些人，比如新德里居民特莎娜?加戈，认为内阁和总统同时通过和签发这项法令是因为国会党急于得到第二年大选的支持。

“They did this for the votes, the government doesn’t really do anything, but during election time, they say, this will be cheaper, but nothing happens,” said Garg.

Others, meanwhile, have questioned how India can afford the cost of a food subsidy program that will rise to at least $21 billion. It’s an issue that likely will come up when the ordinance is debated in the monsoon¹⁴ session of parliament.

同时，另外一些人质疑印度如何能支付食品补助计划的成本，这项成本将上涨到210亿美元。目前议会讨论这项法令时可能探讨这个问题。